Turbulence
The sun had gone through more than three quarters of it’s cycle, combined with the cloudless skies and enviable temperature, it created the perfect feeling of enjoyment. Every once and awhile, a small cloud would be kicked up, and while it floats through the air, it would change to all colors of the spectrum, as if it could not make up what mood it was in.
It was on this day the gentle gusts of wind were swirling around the figure of a certain cyan mare with rainbow colored mane. Normally the ever active and energetic filly, she caught herself, much to her surprise, enjoying coolness of the crisp, fall day. Rainbow Dash smiled happily as she slowly floated on the delicate gusts, the wind just strong enough to massage her mane and feathers as it passed over them. She let out a deep breath of the fall air, relieving the tension from a full day of school. Although, it was mostly spent asleep on her desk or doodling in her notebook.
Rainbow Dash still had her school saddle pack. It was standard issue for all Flight Academy students: shiny black leather, with gold buckles and the multi colored, "F.A." logo sewn onto every pack. The pack was brimming with supplies used for studying and learning, but many of the pencils were still intact and, when not filled with random figures or comics, most of her notebooks empty. Out of one of the pockets, a small, the corner of a rectangular piece of paper fluttered. This piece of paper was blown out by one of the gentle gusts of wind swirling around Rainbow Dash. A gentle gust of wind which may have lead - or in this case crashed - Rainbow into her closest friend.
She giggles, the paper tickling her tail as it starts its journey towards the ground. Turning around, short glimpses of red pen upon the paper catch her sight, her smiling mouth drops and her glad eyes widen in realization. She chases give chase, it's movement changing after every gust of wind, leaving in her hooves only air. Rainbow Dash crashes into the side cloud while trying to catch the paper, painfully landing near a report card, with a big, red, circled “E” on it. The ponies near Rainbow laugh as they see the young filly sprawled out next to her - for all accounts - failing grade.
Rainbow, ears tucked back and head hung low, scoops up the card and places it in her bag, a slight limp and an uneven wing now plagued the filly. A group of sniveling older colts approach her, glancing at each other before smirking;
“Hey Rainbow Crash, you up to a race against us?”
Although injured and embarrassed, Dash's ears perk up at the sound of competition. She turns her head towards the taunting colts, while still walking, and gives them a rather smug reply,
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t want to embarrassed you, but if you insist. Let me just put my things dow--"
Not watching where her hooves took her, combined with her imperfect step due to injury, she trips, once again adding to her already numerous small aches. The sprawling filly winces, and although able to stand, she does so somewhat shakily. Rainbow Dash... has a reputation for crashing, known among all of the colts present. The leader of the insensitive colts leans into, Dash, trying pull her into a scheme proven to embarrass her and simultaneously give them a good laugh.
“If you’re so good, you wouldn’t need to.”
It succeeds, and Rainbow Dash is caught: hook, line, and sinker. She glares at the colts, completly unaware of their plans, though they have done it many times before
“And I don’t need to. Bring it on!”
“Okay then... 1-2-3-GO!”
They shoot off, attempting to leave Dash in the wake of their cheep trick. She, however, recovers before they can get a comfortable lead. As Rainbow reaches the front, the lead pony clicks his tongue, deciding to move into plan B.
“First to three around the school wins!”
As they round the first corner of the lap, LeBrony James, pulls ahead and grins. Thinking he has the lead, he looks over his wing to see a prismatic pegasus bolt past him, causing him to nearly crash into a particularly thunder-y thunder cloud.
The cyan filly leaves a trail of color as she turns the second corner of the Flight School: her final lap. She could see the finish line, her heart pumping adrenaline. The wind in her mane was a feeling that she thought she couldn’t live without. The freedom one experiences when flying at high speeds is enough to spoil even the most disciplined of ponies. Her feathers, coat and mane all in sync with the wind as the high speed pony sets her jaw and focuses her eyes; an expression that would ruffle the feathers of any pegasus.
Half hiding behind her mane, trying to make herself as small as possible, as if it could make her invisible, a certain butter-yellow pony shyly watches the racers just outside the school, Excitedly hopping to and fro as the contagious energy infected her. Though it was difficult to see her face between the strands of flowing pink mane, it wasn’t hard to tell she was completely enthralled in the competition. A small, “Yay!”, or, “Go!”, slipping past her lips as she watched the athletic ponies dart past her. Though it was a task nearly impossible for anypony, the losing colts try to catch up to the impossibly fast Rainbow Dash.
But something was not right. The leading filly had started to waver, and her wings were not beating in tandem.
As the final seconds of the race ticked away inexorably, Fluttershy’s eyes widen in horror as she sees Rainbow Dash start to spiral out of control. Dash’s wing has stopped working completely, cramping and twisting into an unnatural angle. The impact from earlier did a job on the delicate feathered structure that comprise a pegasus wing. Trying to recover, the colorful filly tumbled into a steady downward spiral, her wing frantically flapping at the air as she tries to gain purchase before crashing violently, digging a deep furrow in the into the cloud surface. The impact vibrates the floor Fluttershy was standing on.
The yellow filly stands frozen, as the race ended with a flurry of paper and school supplies, showering the area around Rainbow Dash.
“Haha, Rainbow Crash, nice race. Maybe next time, yeah?” Laughed her competitors as they flew away from the school.
The impact was hard, shuddering every bone in the cyan filly’s body. Through the severely disorienting blurry vision and heavy ringing in her head; she sees a smudge of yellow and pink running towards her.
“O-oh-oh m-my... go-goodness, are you... o-okay?” Fluttershy nervously stutters, but Dash just stares directly through her.
“Did I win…?” Rainbow slurs: her mane in in complete disarray, spots of cyan coat missing from the side that collided with the roughly paved surface, revealing bare skin. Her wing is the more notable injury; The feathers that are still attached are twisted and tangled in all directions. The actual wing, however, looks...
Bent...
Broken...
Snapped…
Ripped…
All adjectives that a wing, of all things, should never be.
Fluttershy’s eyes were darting back and forth, looking for some pony to help, but she and Rainbow Dash were the only ones in the whole school area. Fluttershy was always the last to leave the school, usually staying in the classroom to avoid the after school rush. But now, she was the only pony who could provide care to the filly flattened on the cloud before her.
“Heeeey… Thatsss miiine!” Rainbow Dash objects to the frantic figure before her, observing as the panicking filly darts back and forth, trying to gather any salvageable supplies.
The black space seemed to close about Rainbow Dash, as though it wanted to trap her. She felt as though she were slowly blacking out.
Though this blackness, an arrow of light shoots through. An intense pain erupted from her wing, caused by a shaking, curious hoof. But as is the case when shining a bright light in a dark room; once gone, the darkness seems ever more present.
Time felt as though it was trodding through a marsh, every second being dragged down in the confines of space. Every muscle and tendon in Rainbow was inactive, and couldn’t resist the excruciatingly slow and painful force that lifted her body. Eventually, she thought she was on the back of somepony. The somepony didn’t really matter as much as the somepony’s mane though. When the conscious part of the mind refuses to process information, the subconscious takes over. And the subconscious was right now processing how soft the mane and coat of the somepony was.
Fluttershy shook under the weight of the cyan filly. She surprised herself by even being able to lift Rainbow Dash onto her back, but now with Dash being sprawled awkwardly on her back, she took a shaky step forward.
Unathletic Fluttershy took step after unsteady step with a pained Rainbow Dash on her back. All of the focus and concentration the yellow filly put into balancing herself showed in the steady, forceful gaze, tongue pressed between the contours of her lips. Contrasting this, the bulk on Fluttershy’s back nuzzled in the softness of her coat and mane, a face of content buried into the expression of Rainbow Dash.
"Where should I take her... my home is too far away, but I don't know if I should go to Rainbows house without her permission. When not focused on simply walking, these thought permeated through her frantic mind. She trudged along, eventually reaching Rainbow Dash's living quarters. Upon seeing it, her mind blanks, so she walks to the front door and pushes it open.
Fluttershy gently throws the filly on her back onto the the first place that came to sight: a couch. Exhausted, the yellow pony sprawls out on the floor of the unfamiliar house; now that her first responibilty was complete, she realized being in somepony’s home without their permission troubled her.
Fluttershy’s eyes began to investigate their surroundings, mind drifting as remembrance of the past half hour began to provoke thoughts, questioning her actions. Why did she help Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy hadn’t ever met Rainbow Dash, but she knew who she was. Rainbow was possibly the most famous pony in the school, but not for her incredible flying talent. The most well known pony in the school was known because of accidental crashing and self inflicted injuries.
There were many first year students who only knew of the crashing and class failings of Rainbow Dash. Not only this, but she had trouble staying in the clear, constantly being told not to “dash” through the halls, being sent to detention for misbehaving during class; all around being reckless and ignorant of the rules.
Fluttershy didn’t feel as though she pitied the filly, if anything, she envied her; Rainbow Dash was one of the coolest ponies in the school, despite the negative gossip. She could do tricks no one had ever seen before and was unafraid of trying new things. She inspired others to be more outgoing through her being fearless at failure, and she didn’t seem to have any trouble making friends. These thoughts weighed heavy on her eye lids, and they began to close without her realizing.
Fluttershy came back to an orange hued sunset. Glancing at the wall clock, she took a shocked gasp of air with a tiny, as she began to tumble about the house, trying to make up for lost time sleeping. Uncoordinatedly, she began to search for any healing ointments and bandages that may be laying around or hiding in the cupboards.
Seeing Rainbow Dash still softly snoring on the soft surface of the cloud couch, she begins to calm down. Juggling the assorted medicines and bandages with an unusual amount of skill, she starts tending to the injured filly. Singing a gentle tune as she carefully, ever so gently, washed and wrapped the side and wing of the pony in her unofficial care.
Water can be frozen,
Slowing and stopping it’s flow
But know, my little filly,
That kindness can’t be imposed.
It’s flow cannot be closed,
When a willing heart
shares kindness unopposed